[dreamingat30fps]

So we have been looking to buy a vacation cabin or house on a couple acres for a few years now. We narrowed it down to the Western NC area and were finally ready to pull the trigger on something this past year.

What in the holy hell are people smoking? Is it just Western NC that is completely bat shit insane or is it everywhere? I know our house in FL has appreciated some absurd amount (at least on paper).

I mean any old house that's sub $300k with a couple acres is gone within days. Who's buying all these properties and where are the people who were living in them going? When do you realestate guys think it's going to stop?

Seems we drove out here for nothing other than to freeze our asses off because literally every property we wanted to see was sold by the time we got here and got showings scheduled. I think we are done for now. I remember getting fucked with my condo back during the 2008 crash when it became worthless practically overnight. Don't want to repeat that mistake again.

[cmyx6go]

Inventory is low. If something comes on the market it goes fast. People are listing houses at stupid numbers. And getting their price. Do your homework. Don’t offer based on emotion. Do comps. If the time isn’t right, wait. You’re looking for a vacation home. It’s not like your back is up against the wall for a primary residence. Good luck.

[spazzyfry123]

We’ve been looking at western NC as well. Where at specifically?

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

Inventory is low. If something comes on the market it goes fast. People are listing houses at stupid numbers. And getting their price. Do your homework. Don’t offer based on emotion. Do comps. If the time isn’t right, wait. You’re looking for a vacation home. It’s not like your back is up against the wall for a primary residence. Good luck.

Oh like I said I was burned before with real estate so I have no intention of paying crazy prices for junk. I'm just curious why everyone is buying these properties all of the sudden. I can understand people wanting to leave big cities, but where are the current residents of these houses going? I mean I could sell my house in FL and make a nice profit... but where am I going to go? Even if I bought something else in FL I would have to pay more than I paid for my house for something crappier.

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

We’ve been looking at western NC as well. Where at specifically?

We are open to areas. Trying to stay within an hour of Asheville and east of Asheville mainly because what we have seen west of Asheville is much more mountainous and we would like to have easy access and some flat land for our RV.

[kscarrol]

Yep, looking to move there in the next 18 months and have been monitoring real estate, crazy. We are signed up for notifications from agents and we'll get an email about a new listing and when we open it the house is already "contingent" meaning there is an accepted offer already. Driven by folks retiring or looking to get out of bigger cities with the virus situation. Hopefully it will die down by the time we are ready to buy.

[TrevorM3]

yeah..this housing "bubble" will end soon. it has to. everyone is paying top dollar, and buying dog shit, to boot.

[freakystyly]

I can't speak of vacation properties or real estate in general where you're looking but don't assume supply will keep up with demand. There are more and more people with money to spend on "toys" or more real estate in some more extreme cases. The housing market isn't really 2008 uncertain this time around, as crazy as it is.
There's only X amount of land in the world, sometimes it's easier to knock down and rebuild (just an idea).

Happy hunting

[M_Six]

I browse the market where I used to live in MA every now and then. I saw a condo last week that was above some retail space. It was a good sized condo (2000+sf) with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, but it was still just a condo above some stores. They wanted $1.5mil for it. I was like, WTF? Tiny old houses on postage stamp lots are going for $400k-$600k there. You can buy a new McMansion with top end amenities on an acre of land for that amount out here.

For example: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...22697793_zpid/

Now granted, we're in the boonies. Flat corn and soybean fields for miles. So there's a big trade-off. But I don't get the appeal of "location" when you're talking about a 1950's cookie cutter neighborhood in SE Massachusetts where you spend half your life in traffic just trying to go to the store and grab your kids at school every day.

Sorry, I'm drifting off the vacation home theme here, but crazy real estate prices really steam me.

[EstorilM]

We just bought a house off market (thank god). The last house we offered on we went up to a million (175k over) and waived everything. There were 34 total offers, 17 of which were more than 175k over. Its unreal in Seattle area.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I browse the market where I used to live in MA every now and then. I saw a condo last week that was above some retail space. It was a good sized condo (2000+sf) with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, but it was still just a condo above some stores. They wanted $1.5mil for it. I was like, WTF? Tiny old houses on postage stamp lots are going for $400k-$600k there. You can buy a new McMansion with top end amenities on an acre of land for that amount out here.

For example: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...22697793_zpid/

Now granted, we're in the boonies. Flat corn and soybean fields for miles. So there's a big trade-off. But I don't get the appeal of "location" when you're talking about a 1950's cookie cutter neighborhood in SE Massachusetts where you spend half your life in traffic just trying to go to the store and grab your kids at school every day.

Sorry, I'm drifting off the vacation home theme here, but crazy real estate prices really steam me.

Well I have noticed that the like 200-300k range is the most popular and I feel like you get the least for your money. Most of the houses are smaller and/or very outdated. Typically an acre or less and if they have good acreage (5+ acres) they go almost immediately. If you go up to like 500-600k I feel you get significantly nicer homes with more land and they are on the market a bit longer. However we don't really want to spend that much.

Originally Posted by freakystyly

I can't speak of vacation properties or real estate in general where you're looking but don't assume supply will keep up with demand. There are more and more people with money to spend on "toys" or more real estate in some more extreme cases. The housing market isn't really 2008 uncertain this time around, as crazy as it is.
There's only X amount of land in the world, sometimes it's easier to knock down and rebuild (just an idea).

Happy hunting

Maybe, but these people with money seem to be buying up a lot of crap. If investors are buying them I imagine they will need to get enough rent to justify the prices they are paying. Supposedly people are out of work etc yet house prices are going crazy, car prices are nuts, RV sales are through the roof...

We have thought about buying land or buying some run down mobile home on a decent lot and build a cabin, but honestly that's more work and more unknowns than I really want to deal with.

Whole thing reminds me of that quote from Buffett that says something like be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

[zx10guy]

I'm with you on the real estate market. Don't get it. Even with low inventory and low interest rates, it still doesn't make sense to me with the current economic risk factors. I've heard the ones most affected by the lock downs and this Covid situation are those in service industry jobs such as waiters, bartenders, etc. But I know those in IT positions that have been laid off too. I'm in a pretty secure situation with my current employer but I wouldn't be taking on a big purchase such as a house right now.

I'm seeing the craziness you're seeing where my vacation home is on the Eastern Shore. Tons of new communities are sprouting up with ever higher base prices. My vacation home was bought as new construction. The development has gone through two phases and is on the third and final one. I bought in phase 1. The base price of my house was $162k back in 2012 with no lot premium as I have one of (and in my opinion the nicest) lots in the community. The new section has the cheapest model going for $285k base. As a comparison, the cheapest model at the time I bought mine was going for $120k. So the equivalent model in the new section to mine is in the low $300s as a base price.

[chassis]

High demand and low supply means high price. This is the reality in every market I have first or second hand (relatives) experience with.

Eastern Pennsylvania
Florida
Michigan
Indiana

Single family housing construction was underbuilt coming out of the GFC, and demand has finally taken the slack out of the system. Low interest rates and strong demand mean prices will be high for the foreseeable future. There is no debt bubble at the moment, so I don't see a crash coming soon.

New construction isn't a free lunch either. Lumber prices are high and contractor/tradesmen are busy.

[jsf721]

Nyc is the only local bargain right now. People are leaving in droves. It’s pumping up values outside the city to crazy high numbers.

If you have the $ and time nyc is a buy now.

[nyalpine90]

same thing happen to me few months ago, houses in Long Island were selling like hot bread on Sunday morning lol
it was a bidding war for every property.

[DETRoadster]

LOL, try Seattle. We bought our 1400 sqft 3 bed 1.75 bath in 2011 for $379. It's now appraised at over $1M and we have at least 1 realtor a week leaving a leaflet at our door asking us if we want to sell.

We actually are getting ready to move and spent the year before COVID house shopping in a nice area outside the city where lots are bigger and houses are smaller. Everything we saw received multiple offers and went for 20% to 25% over asking. Its so bad that we changed our plan and now have an offer in on vacant land. F it, we will just build our own instead of battling everyone.

[dmatre]

NC properly has been hot since 2016, when we moved back from LA to the Charlotte area.

When the economy collapsed in 2008, all building stopped. But the influx of people continued unabated.

We looked at homes for a couple of months, but the nice ones were gone in a day with multiple offers, and the ones that we managed to look at were older homes priced like they were redone, but in need of renovation. We had to build to get what we wanted.

In the recent years, the building has restarted, but not nearly at a pace to keep up with the rate of people moving into the state.

While some may call it a bubble, when you have restricted supply and high demand, that's just the way the market goes.

You want a nice house in an area with a strong economic outlook and decent weather, you're going to pay for it. You can find houses in Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo for good prices....

[David70]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Well I have noticed that the like 200-300k range is the most popular and I feel like you get the least for your money. Most of the houses are smaller and/or very outdated. Typically an acre or less and if they have good acreage (5+ acres) they go almost immediately. If you go up to like 500-600k I feel you get significantly nicer homes with more land and they are on the market a bit longer. However we don't really want to spend that much.

Maybe, but these people with money seem to be buying up a lot of crap. If investors are buying them I imagine they will need to get enough rent to justify the prices they are paying. Supposedly people are out of work etc yet house prices are going crazy, car prices are nuts, RV sales are through the roof...

We have thought about buying land or buying some run down mobile home on a decent lot and build a cabin, but honestly that's more work and more unknowns than I really want to deal with.

Whole thing reminds me of that quote from Buffett that says something like be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.

Yes, if you double your budget the houses are significantly nicer and there is less people at this price range. A $600k vacation house in rural NC gets you a lot more.

With the "supposedly people are out of work", the group doing the worst was never in the market for a vacation home. The people that haven't lost their jobs and are historically a possibility to buy a vacation home are likely spending less of their disposable income (gas, car maintenance, car replacement as they wear out, clothes, restaurants, vacations). Interest rates are historically low so people realize that is they planned to buy in the next couple of years it is unlikely the finance part of their payment will ever be lower. If 30 year mortgages go back to 5% the prices will drop as the total monthly payment goes up.

I have never had any interest in owning a vacation home, just nowhere in the world I want to spend most of my free time, would prefer to rent and stay where ever I like, and feel like once I had this home most vacations would end up being there, whether I wanted them to be or not. My goal is to rent a home for 2-3 weeks multiple times per year, all over the world, and not deal with any of the hassles and expenses of owning a 2nd home. Different interests.

[JasonDot]

LOW inventory here in San Diego county. Definitely a seller's market at the moment.

[Alfisti]

It's insane. I live in a Toronto suburb about 10 or so miles out from downtown. Good sized lots here but still, not a boutique, high end area, middle to upper middle class. There is NOTHING under $2m for a 2 story house, knock downs are going for $1.3M .....crazy.

[Chihuahua]

Yes. I am currently in the process of selling my out of state house and buying a home in ATL. My realtor is expecting a quick sale, and around where I am in ATL homes in my price range get listed and go under contract in 72 hours or less. Bidding wars are somewhat common as well.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by David70

I have never had any interest in owning a vacation home, just nowhere in the world I want to spend most of my free time, would prefer to rent and stay where ever I like, and feel like once I had this home most vacations would end up being there, whether I wanted them to be or not. My goal is to rent a home for 2-3 weeks multiple times per year, all over the world, and not deal with any of the hassles and expenses of owning a 2nd home. Different interests.

Exactly our plans. Plus there is nowhere within easy driving distance from us where a vacation home could be used enough. When I was in MA, it was different. You could have a house in MA and a vacation home on a lake or up in NH and be able to go there a couple times a month. Not so out here.

[TheWatchGuy]

pretty much like that in most areas for certain price points.

In colorado, Denver area is like that for most anything under 500k. Bidding wars are the norm. Northern colorado price point is below about 400k. and eastern colorado under 350ish